If I know that certain risks cannot be prevented and are part of the process, would I still be expected to document even partial preventative measures or would I go straight for corrective steps?

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It’s true that there is no way to prevent certain risks, as you say, in certain essential process steps. In those cases it’s definitely a good idea to build robust contingency plans as you suggest. There are some processes where there’s no way around the risk, but if a process hasn’t been assessed for risk in a long time, it’s always worth asking if there’s another way to do it. But you certainly don’t have to spend a lot of time on it.

Elisabeth is a Managing Partner & Executive Advisor at GoLeanSixSigma.com. For over 25 years, she's helped leading organizations like Amazon, Charles Schwab and Starwood Hotels & Resorts build problem-solving muscles with Lean Six Sigma to achieve their goals.

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It’s true that there is no way to prevent certain risks, as you say, in certain essential process steps. In those cases it’s definitely a good idea to build robust contingency plans as you suggest. There are some processes where there’s no way around the risk, but if a process hasn’t been assessed for risk in a long time, it’s always worth asking if there’s another way to do it. But you certainly don’t have to spend a lot of time on it.